Kristy Owens
by The Hogwarts Society
Summary: Kristy couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts this year. After getting kicked out by her parents, Hogwarts is her only home. Unfortunately, that home is full of Slytherins who want to dismantle her wheelchair and spread it throughout the Forbidden Forest. -by Julia Gallagher


This is one in a series of books all taking place at the same time but from different POV's.

Disclaimer: Obviously not JKR.

* * *

Thank goodness for the rain. Alex wanted me to go surfing with him again, so the weather was a good excuse. Besides, today we were supposed to go to the aquarium with Emily, as is our annual tradition. It's also our annual tradition to cause some kind of ruckus at the aquarium. That was a tradition that I was hoping to break this year, but with Emily and Alex, the odds were basically nil.

We boarded the "beach train" around midday, so we could stop at the pier for lunch before the aquarium.

"I'm looking forward to this," Emily said, skipping down the boardwalk, as usual. She was swinging her umbrella back and forth, splashing us both with water. "I love sea dragons..." Emily continued to chatter for a while before turning to Alex, "So, you did say this place doesn't have any whales, right? You know I can't stand them."

"Emily, there are no sea dragons or whales at the aquarium. We went last year too, remember? I wish it wasn't raining, then I could keep teaching Kristy how to surf." Alex grinned at me.

"Give it up, Alex. I can't surf, I can't stand up! I would help judge the surfing contest at the end of the year, though. Maybe you should work on convincing the director to let me do that! And Emily, you'll be fine, don't worry."

Emily sighed in relief as we found a seat at the restaurant. "All right!" She picked up the menu, upside down, and began looking at it with a grin. It really was incredible how cheerful she was, all the time.

"Fish and chips for me!" Alex announced, slamming down the menu and knocking down the pepper shaker in the process, with the salt teetering precariously.

Emily righted the pepper shaker. "That sounds good. I think I'll have that too." Glancing at me, she asked me what I wanted.

"Make it three." I smiled back.

"Nice!" Emily nodded and motioned the waitress over so they could order.

"I want fish and chips, please and thank you. Oh! And please bring me some sweet relish? That's a favorite of mine with fish and chips."

She grinned, before letting the others order.

"We would like fish and chips too, please." the waitress glared at me. It was Kayla, my old "friend" from primary school. She could hold a grudge like you wouldn't believe. To this day, I still have no clue what I did. It could've been the botched sleepover, the fact that I sat with Alex at lunch for one day, I quit the musical, I was a nerd, any of the above. I batted my eyelids. Kayla gave me one more scathing look and stalked off.

Emily rolled her eyes, "What's her problem?" Neither she or Alex knew anything about my primary school adventures. She shrugged and pasted another grin on her face, like it would be odd to go more than a single minute without being lively. She started chattering about what we might see in the aquarium. She was looking forward to it a lot, shockingly. She wanted to see some penguins. She always thought they were cute little birds, and couldn't wait to see them. Once Emily got going, she didn't stop. She talked excitedly the whole time they were eating, only pausing once to glance at me and my chair. "So, how are we getting inside again?"

"Well," Alex said, with a strong air of talking to a two-year old, "I was thinking the front door..." Emily and I cracked up.

"True, True," Emily agreed, eyes twinkling, "I'll carry the wheelchair, you carry Kristy? That way we can get in easy enough." The aquarium wasn't handicap friendly, so Alex always had to carry me up the front steps. Super embarrassing, but definitely worth it to see the aquarium.

Emily bounced up out of her seat, excited, and wanting to get going, "Well, allright, lets get going! I wanna see the animals."

"Sorry Emily, just a few more minutes. I want to polish off my fish and chips, and unless you want to dine and ditch..."

"Alex," I scolded, "Don't even think about it!" I was pretty sure he was kidding about the dine and ditch part, but you could never be sure with him.

"It was just a suggestion," He laughed, "And I was just kidding."

Emily laughed, and sat back down with a teasing grin, "You're slow, Alex. Kristy is finished too. A guy like you, I'm surprised you don't gobble down five times this amount, in the time it takes me to eat it one."

"I like to enjoy my food. I don't inhale it like some hooligans I know... and now I'm going to eat even slower, just to bug-oi!"

"I figured you needed some help." I grabbed another forkful of Alex's fish and chips.

Emily laughed, and picked up her fork, "I'll help too."

"Mine!" Alex shielded his plate with one hand and whacked at the offending forks with the other one. Although he knocked over at least four different condiments, the effort was commendable. "How am I supposed to eat with you two vultures?"

Emily pouted, before sitting back with a sigh. "All right, all right, eat already. But if you don't hurry, I will help myself, though. An' that is no threat, it is a promise."

She bounced to her feet, "And besides, I'm getting sick of being in here. I wanna go see the critters. Pleeeeeeeeaaaaase hurry up."

Alex threw up his hands, almost knocking me in the face. "Done."

"It's about time, let's go!" I went wheeling down the pier, and Alex and Emily chased after me. That's one advantage to wheels, they're a lot faster than feet.

The step experience went even smoother than usual. Emily was so excited about everything. Even the sea cucumber exhibit left her staring. Alex was just as interested, and was shockingly calm. Emily was particularly fond of the sea turtles, until-

"Otters! Oh, they are so adorable. I just want to pet one, or hold one!" She clapped her hands in admiration as she watched the otters play. This was trouble. I'm sure she was already cooking up a "sinister plot" to touch an otter.

"No touching!" said a passing employee. Like that would stop any kid who wanted to touch the otters, especially Emily.

Emily pouted, before glancing towards me, an glint in her eyes. "I think I dropped something when I was over at the sea turtles.I'm going to go get it. Be right back!" Uh oh, I knew exactly where this was going. Unfortunately, she scurried off before I could stop her.

Five minutes later, acommotion started over at the sea turtles enclosure. The turtles were streaming out of the wide open door. It didn't take a detective for us to figure out what had happened. Emily skipped past Alex and me with a smirk as she moved towards the otters' pen.

"Emily," I hissed, "why did you do that?"

"And there's no use denying it," Alex said before she could answer. "we know it was you."

"We should probably leave, I don't think the employees are going to be too happy with us right now." I wheeled her chair at top speed towards the exit. I barely got anywhere before Emily cut me off with her pouting face. As much as her plan cut the aquarium visit short, it was impossible to be angry at her. She looked like an abandoned puppy dog, but I tried to stay strong.

"But the turtles are slow, and easy to see, and I wanna pet the otters!" She sighed, and looked at the otters mournfully, not wanting to leave yet. I turned and started to move again. "Wait! I'm coming!"

"Hold it right there," a voice snarled at us as we moved out the door. Merlin! It was the manager. I'd recognize the sound of his voice anywhere. It was like a bulldog with a cough, as Emily put it. I winced slightly, and tried to inch away, not liking the sound of that voice.

The manager stormed forward, "You are the ones that caused the turtles to get loose, aren't you?"

"Um... not exactly..." Emily looked at the floor, embarrassed. Even though she was constantly getting into some sort of trouble, she was horrible at trying to get out of it, "I never knew they were that fast..."

"No, she didn't," I shot a look at Emily, willing her to be silent. "As a matter of fact-"

"As a matter of fact what?" The man asked, "I happen to own this place, and that is one large mess you've caused. Unless you claim you didn't do it." He lifted an eyebrow, and looked at me questioningly.

"We're not claiming; we didn't do anything!"

The owner's frown deepened as he looked at us. "I can't prove it, but I am still suspicious. I suggest you leave." That's a better deal than I was expecting. Alex and I took his suggestion to heart, and made Emily do the same.

Once outside, she sighed, and looked at the others apologetically. "I'm sorry... I messed that up." Her eyes traveled over to a cotton candy vendor, and her eyes light up, "Want some cotton candy to help forget about it?"

"Yes!" I adore cotton candy.

"Absolutely!" Alex skipped towards the vendor.

I rolled my eyes.

"He acts like a six-year-old," I commented, "it's pathetic!"

Once Alex was out of earshot, Emily turned to look at me with a grin. "So... interested in any of the guys in class? I've heard rumors that there is someone who likes you..."

"I don't know...who said that?" I felt my face burning. Why did we have to talk about boys? I always turned so red.

"Oh, more than one person," Emily mused, "Of course, you know how rumors are. Everyone talks. Students talk, teachers talk, some animals talk...If people stopped spreading rumors, the walls would cave in due to lack of air moving inside."

Emily grinned, "Your face is very red though... Who do you think it is?Or better yet, who do you want it to be?"

"You tell me first, I'm terrified."

Emily shook her head, laughing, before tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. "Something about an animagus, and a hawk... I can't remember anything more than that though." I knew she knew. She was probably sworn to secrecy, but I was relying on her inability to keep big secrets.

"Liar! I know you know something! There's no registered Animaguses in our school... a rebel!"

Emily giggled, " You know, I bet they visit you in hawk form, without you even knowing it. Kinda cute, really. I wonder if they are able to talk to other birds when they are in hawk form?" A thoughtful look crossed Emily's face. "Maybe you can ask them that for me." Now she was just messing with me. "Who do you think it might be? I know it isn't a Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaws are show-offs, so they would've registered already..."

"Not all Ravenclaws are social. He could ust be shy. Is he in our year?" I had a guess. But he wasn't a Ravenclaw, and I barely knew him. I couldn't even place his name at that time, I just knew he spent a lot of time talking to his cat.

"Yeah, he is," Emily said cheerfully, "I think he is shy, in his own way. Doesn't share much about himself."

"So, are you going to tell me?" Might as well be blunt; I was running low on questioning techniques.

"Oh, come on, guess first!" Uh, I hate it when she does that! "I'll tell you if you are right."

"But you haven't given me any good hints yet, so I can't guess!" This was my last ditch effort. usually she tells me by this point!

Emily sighed, and thought for a moment, "Hmm... they have a cat... are tall, and their hair is long for a guy." Oh no, I think it was him. But I wasn't about to tell Emily that I'd figured it out. I wanted her to tell me, just to be sure.

"Gosh, I can't think of anyone like that in our year. "

Emily giggled, "Oh, well, you'll just have to think of it on your own then."

"I'm back! Kristy, you look like a strawberry...were you talking about boys?" Alex took a bite out of his cotton candy. "Ump muph." Leave it to Alex to talk with his mouth full, he knewhow much that bugged me.

Emily laughed, and grabbed some cotton candy, before handing some to me. She said delicately, "That is for you to wonder, and us to know." Thank goodness. Talking about boys with Alex was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Ump wump wis 'tuck!" Alex mumbled, his mouth still full of cotton candy.

"Alex," I said through gritted teeth (he was really getting on my nerves), "Swallow, and try again."

"I canp, ump mumph wis 'tuck!"

Emily furrowed her brow, "Did you just say your mouth is stuck?" I really hope he's joking.

Alex nodded his head vigorously.

Emily sighed, and glanced at me, "Um... not sure what to do about that one..." Yeah, me neither. I've never heard of anyone getting their mouth glued shut by cotton candy.

"Well, since your grandmother is a witch, we could sneak him in there, and then do an unsticking Charm. We wouldn't get in trouble for that, right? We could also just pull on his mouth until it- Alex, I'm kidding!"

"Maybe would could take him back to his place? My grandmother isn't the friendliest around."

"Alex's parents are muggles, so our plan wouldn't work anyways. Emily, I'm sure your grandmother isn't that bad, and this is an emergency!"

Emily sighed. "There is a back door we can use, and my grandmother is always doing some odd spell or another. Come on, let's go. Alex, you push Kristy, and stop making weird faces, Alex. We want to avoid attention, not gain more of it."

Alex folded his arms and attempted, and failed, to stick out his tongue at Emily. I sighed. "Alex, you're so immature. I can push myself."

Emily laughed at Alex, before skipping ahead, per usual.

Emily laughed at Alex's frustration, and continued forward, motioning them to follow. It was only a ten minute walk to her grandmothers house, and we soon arrived.

She glanced at the chimney, and sighed when she noticed the smoke. I wondered why. So what if her grandmother's home?

She led us to the back door, and slipped inside before leading us to the guest room.

"Do you want to do it?" I whispered

Emily bit her lip. "Well... this is my grandmothers place, so I should..."

She made a face, before taking out her wand, using the proper spell. I was pretty sure Emily grandmother wouldn't take too kindly to us performing magic in her sitting room, so I was hoping for Alex to break character and be quiet.

"Thank you," Alex shouted. So much for being quiet. "I feel so much better now!"

"Alex! We have to be quiet!" I reminded him, but it was too late.

Emily groaned as she heard someone coming, "Great Alex. Just great. Let's get out of her fast before she co-"

"Too late for that. " Emily's grandmother frowned as she entered the room. "What are you three doing here? Emily, its been six months since you've been here. Didn't I tell you? Didn't I say that you would be back, eh?" This wasn't the reception I was expecting at all. Emily didn't tell us she'd moved out.

Now," her piercing gaze turned to Alex and I, "I suggest you leave. She won't be going anywhere until school starts again."

"We'll stay, if you don't mind. I don't want you to be too hard on her, she was just trying to help this blockhead!" I pointed at Alex, hoping that Emily's grandmother would come after us instead.

Her grandmother huffed, "If she isn't going to stay here, then she can't come here! Now out! Out, out out!"

"Stop! It was my idea. I'm sorry, and-," I gasped as three small balls of feathers hit Emily's grandma in the head. "There's our Hogwarts letters!" That was very ironic timing, but it was perfect.

The grandmother had a stunned look on her face as she rubbed the back of her head, feeling where the birds had struck. "Miserable birds. At least they aren't pigeons though. How Muggles use pigeons as letter carriers are beyond me. Foolish flying rats..."

Emily saw the opportunity, and grabbed the letters, "Kristy, Alex, let's go. There are better places for us to be."

"Sounds good! Race you out the door!" Alex ran, quaking with suppressed mirth.

Emily rolled her eyes at Alex, and headed out to door. "I'll be happy to be out of here," she muttered.

"Well, that was eventful!" I said after the trio was a block away from Emily's grandmother's house. I stopped to open my letter.

"Uh," said Alex, who had already opened his, "Why are four of our books by Gilderoy Lockhart? Isn't he that nutcase who lied about his entire career, then hit himself with a Memory Charm? Why would we want these?"

Emily shrugged, "Maybe the teacher is a Lockhart fan, or is going to teach what isn't true." She laughed softly. "Now that would be entertaining." She opened her own letter, looking at it. "Some neat books here."

"Em..." I said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry about... her. She is a bit of a nutcase."

"It's okay. You know my family, they're just as crazy. It wasn't too bad, she seems like she's all talk anyways," I continued pursuing her letter, "I wonder what's going on this year. the 4th years need a bunch of new equipment, look!"

Emily smiled, "Well, we best go start getting our stuff. Want to go shop now, or do you two have something else to do?" She noticed something out of the corner of her eye, and looked up, watching as a hawk circled high above them.

"Well, in this weather, I don't have anything to do." Alex was still eating cotton candy. "Rain means no surfing!"

"I don't have anything today. Let's go!" I said

Emily grinned, "All right!"

She started walking, before she paused, and sighed. "If we go, we have to get your siblings to go too..."

"I just remembered, Carson probably just got his letter too...We have to run to my house right now!" I took off down the road, hoping that the house was still standing when we got there. Dad was not going to be happy about this one.

Emily hurried after me, "For being in a wheelchair, you're very fast." she joked.

She started running towards my house. I was praying that Dad wasn't home, that he was still at work, or anywhere other than home.

When we did reach my place, it was oddly quiet. Maybe he wasn't home.

That was, of course, before I heard my father's voice bellowing through the air.

I went flying up the ramp and slammed the door open. My father was holding a frying pan over Carson's head, ranting about how sinful Carson was. My little brother clutched his letter like it was a lifeline. I grabbed Carson and bolted for the door, hearing my father's outraged scream:

"If you go out that door, Kristy, you're not coming back! You can take your magic and leave!" I knew he meant it, but I went anyways. Hopefully Alex's parents won't be too against us crashing at their place for the remainder of the summer.

"Let's go!" I slammed the door behind me, but not before the frying pan came careening out of the door, narrowly missing Alex. Emily was already back down the ramp. Turning, we sprinted away from the house.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Emily said cheerfully, "I thought for sure that Carson would be locked in a closet or the house would be on fire. On to Alex's place next?" Sometimes her cheerfulness really got on my nerves.

"Actually, it really didn't go that well. Alex, is it okay if Carson and I crash at your place until school starts? Dad kicked us out permanently."

Emily winced, "Ouch. That's not good." She sighed, and shook her head. "Well, let's get to Alex's place, then go to Diagon Alley. I can't wait to pick up the books needed this year."

"Carson and Emilie need all their first year stuff too," Alex halted suddenly, throwing his arms and knocking Emily and I in the face. "This is my house!"

"Ouch, Alex, we know!"

I spent the rest of the day with a splitting headache.

Emily was bouncing with excitement as we reached the bricks.

"Okay, Carson & Emilie," I said, "you can tap the bricks if you want!"

Seeing the excitement on their faces made everything worth it. I'll never forget the wonder of going to Diagon Alley for the first time.

As we walked down the road, we saw Brent and his gang torturing their latest victim. I couldn't make out his face at first, but as we got closer, I saw that it was Numiar. I always felt bad for him. He got the worst roommates ever. As he turned to walk away, Emily called his name and waved brightly, narrowly missing an overgrown flower pot. He turned and chuckled.

"Hello Emily, what chaos are you causing today?" he teased.

Emily pouted, "Why do you always assume I'm up to no good?"

"Because you usually cause something to happen," Numiar teased. Then he smiled at me, resting his eyes on me for a little too long. Maybe this was the guy Emily was talking about.

"Hi Numiar," I wheeled my way over. "Do you need me to change Brent into a pig for you, or do you want to do the honors?"

Numiar chuckled, and shrugged, "I'd rather not be the one to do it. I'm already on his bad side for some odd reason, and we have to share a dorm." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "You've no idea how many times I've wished I was in a different house than him. It can't be helped though. I just have to do my best to avoid him."

It was a pity, Numiar seemed really nice.

Numiar just shrugged, before smiling at me again, "Just coming to get your books? There looks like some interesting ones this year."

"Yeah, and they're all ancient! Why do we need Lockhart books, anyways? Everyone knows they're full of lies..."

Numiar shrugged and launched into an explanation. He seemed really interested in Lockhart. It was then I really just how attractive he was. "I wouldn't be surprised if a few things are exaggerated, but it will give an interesting chance to look at the books, and see if we can actually pick out the truth from the fiction with the info we are certain of."

I smiled. "Maybe there's a whole new class for interpreting Lockhart's fictional adventures to find the truth within..."

Numiar chuckled, before nodding, "That is very possible. I doubt that History of Magic will be doing anything different, Professor Binns wouldn't be nice enough to adapt the curriculum."

"He's been teaching History of Magic before the millennium turn..." I trailed off as I noticed his robes were covered in bird feathers. "You have some mystery birds feathers on your robes, Numiar." I cast a meaningful look at Emily. I was pretty sure now...

Numiar glanced at his robes, and took one of the feathers off. "So there is," he commented, "Well, I did just go see the owls, and I do like birds a fair bit."

Emily smirked, and gave me a slight nod. I kept my composure, but inside I was exploding.

"You know, maybe it's not an owl," I plucked another feather off Numiar's cloak. "We could go to the Owl Emporium to find out. Carson needs an owl anyways! Come on!" I took off down the street. This way we could find out for sure.


End file.
